Moving your lazy butt

June 02, 2009

lazy

I'm a procrastinator. There, I admitted it. I do not find time management easy at all. Isn't the issue always a lack of time? But I recently learned that time management is not about managing time, it's about managing ourselves effectively with the time that we have.

The best way to start becoming better at managing time is by having a goal. To reach the goal, it needs to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and have a deadline.

A goal is a statement of intention. A marketing goal could therefore be something like this: Have 5 new clients by the end of the month.

In order to determine if this goal is achievable and realistic, think about your current situation. Do you have the resources to do this? If advertising is one of the ways you'll try to reach the goal, do you have an ad designer or agency and the money to pay them? Or if you plan to do a lot of networking, public speaking, or directly contacting clients, do you have the time on your calendar without jeopardizing your current clients and work?

If you set unrealistic goals, then you are setting yourself up to fail. Set smaller goals at first, then if you were successful, make them bigger next time.

After you set a goal, think about the ingredients needed to make the goal happen. The ingredients are the projects you'll focus on to reach the goal. So with the goal of making 5 new clients in the next month, one ingredient might be to set up a blog and fill it with articles about topics you think your clients are interested in.

After you set a goal, think about the ingredients needed to make the goal happen.

With each project, there will be smaller, baby steps to complete. For the blog it would be:

  • Set the blog up online and link it to your website
  • Come up with relevant topics
  • Write an article each day and post it
  • Tell others about the blog
  • Post links to the blog on other websites

Another of my enemies besides procrastination is distractions. Keeping a focus on the tasks at hand is hard work and takes determination and will-power. If you're like me, someone who easily veers off course because the alternative action looks more attractive (you can just call me lazy!), then you need a way to keep distractions at a minimum. But don't burn yourself out only focusing on the work at hand. Take a break and remember to reward yourself when you've achieved something you find challenging. I think the best way I've handled this is to give myself certain blocks of time to focus on the task. Then I give myself either a change of pace to do something else or take a break for relaxing and go back to the task later.

Setting goals can seem challenging and a lot of work, but by setting realistic goals, breaking them down into projects and tasks, eliminating distractions and rewarding achievements, you will be able to see your good intentions pay off with success. And you won't feel so lazy anymore!

Contact Us781/688/0150

Copyright 2011 thehypelab.com